Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8: Reviewed

ABOUT

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended after seven glorious seasons, we feared it gone for good. But then came Season Eight, in comic book form… here, a look back at the four-year, forty-three comic season.

From Buffy expert K. Burtt comes an in-depth analysis of the series in all its (mostly) glory, from The Long Way Home through to Last Gleaming, with side-trips to one-shots Tales of the Vampires, Willow and Riley along the way.

SAMPLE

The Long Way Home (Issues #1 – #4)Written by Joss WhedonPenciled by Georges JeantyCollected as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1 (with Issue #5)

PLOT

The introduction to the world after the Slayerization of all potential Slayers and the destruction of Sunnydale (that had the side benefit of saving the world). Buffy has grouped the new Slayers into squads (well, what do you call a group of Slayers?!), which are considered terrorist cells by the US Military. Having decided that the Slayers represent a threat to the world, the military decides to send newly-recovered witch Amy to take Buffy out. Mystical hijinks and violence ensue. And we get hints at a big bad with multiple references to “Twilight” (I could make a joke here about having “Twilight” and “big bad” in the same sentence… but that’s just too easy), complete with a frown-turned-upside-down-turned-upside-down-again symbol (“So it’s a frown?”).

FAMILIAR FACES

Ethan Rayne, Witch Amy, Skinless Warren

WHAT WORKED

Specifically, mention of it being a fake Buffy with “The Immortal” in Rome [Angel, “The Girl in Question”, S05E20 – Ed.]. I never thought that particular episode of Angel worked at all with Angel and Spike chasing after Buffy upon hearing she was seeing their arch-nemesis. So learning that that was all a fake and a big joke facilitated by Andrew redeemed everything. But, in general, the interplay between the characters was well done and the plot seemed Buffy-esque, but on a grander scale (handily available due to the new comic-centric format without the whole pesky TV budget thing to worry about. And while I can’t claim to have needed the visual, I’m guessing that the image of a naked Angel and Spike chained up with Buffy between them (alas, not naked, though in a nurse outfit, so not bad) definitely worked for ‘shippers and slash fans alike.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK

Nothing dramatic, but a few gripes. One, no explanation is given as to why and how Buffy and the Slayer army have access to lots o’ technology and funding (will there be an explanation later? Oooh… foreshadowing!). Two, Willow seems really powerful. I suppose the argument could be made that with her attempting to destroy the world in Season 6 and then effectively Slayerizing everyone in Season 7 showcases massive amounts of magical ability, but what we see in these issues did seem to be not quite in line with the character.

REVELATIONS WITHIN

Dawn’s a giant! Warren’s alive! With no skin! Someone is in love with Buffy (who isn’t me)!

BEST LINE

SLAYER 1: …I feel a little weird about using a crucifix to kill someone.SLAYER 2: Yeh dinno much about religion, do yeh?

After 7 years and thousands of articles comprising millions of words, the time has come for us to bid a fond farewell to Geek Speak Magazine, our crack staff’s virtual, and spiritual, home.

It has been an honor and a delight to share our views on the multiverse of wonder genre can provide all this time, and we are happy to announce that we’re not about to let it all disappear into the ether.

Starting with Geek Versus Geek, a collection of our geekly debates from across the years, Overlord Publishing will be releasing many of our works for posterity, available for pretty much every device you can imagine.

A huge thank you to all of our writers, our editors, our readers and guests who made Geek Speak such a labor of deep, deep love for so long.